A "magical" Bailey upgrade: £13m star now open to signing for Aston Villa
da pixbet： It is set to be a busy summer transfer window at Aston Villa, especially throughout the month of June.
da brdice： The Claret and Blue Army’s 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United on the final day of the season condemned them to sixth place, missing out on Champions League qualification, thereby having to settle for a spot in the Europa League.
This, as outlined by Steve Sutcliffe of BBC Sport, only increases the financial pressure on Aston Villa, who may be forced to sell key assets before 30 June to avoid breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
So, with at least one first-team figure seemingly heading out the exit door, Unai Emery should be pushing hard to sign a “magical” replacement.
The latest on Leon Bailey's future
According to a report by The Telegraph, Leon Bailey is being ‘targeted’ by a number of Saudi Pro League clubs who are hoping to tempt him to move this month.
Rahman Osman of the Sun adds that newly-promoted Neom SC, who have former-Premier League players Saïd Benrahma, Ahmed Hegazi and Mbaye Diagne on their books, have already ‘held initial discussions’ with Bailey, and a £25m move is expected to be finalised this week.
Bailey was not included in Jamaica’s squad for last week’s Unity Cup in West London after, as outlined by Elias Burke of the Athletic, a public falling out with the JFF last year, thereby highly unlikely to feature in the Reggae Boyz’s World Cup qualifiers this week, nor the CONCACAF Gold Cup later this month either.
The winger joined the Villans from Bayer Leverkusen for a reported £25m four years ago, but his role in the team has diminished as the table below outlines.
Bailey season-by-season Villa career
Statistics
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
Appearances
18
36
52
38
Starts
7
27
35
25
Minutes
755
2,124
3,197
2,072
Times an unused sub
2
Zero
1
7
Goals
1
5
14
2
Assists
2
4
14
4
All stats from Transfermarkt
As the table highlights, Bailey endured a massive drop-off in form, importance and output from last season to this campaign, underlining the fact now is the right time for Aston Villa to sell, so should they target a replacement who will be rather familiar to supporters?
Aston Villa's dream Bailey replacement
Marco Asensio arrived at Aston Villa on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in January and was certainly a roaring success, scoring eight goals in 21 appearances, bagging braces against Club Brugge, Chelsea and Cardiff during victories at Villa Park.
Ali Tweedale of Opta’s the Analyst believes the Spanish international added a ‘sprinkling of stardust’ to Villa’s attack, noting that Emery, who he believes to be a ‘huge fan of his compatriot’, would surely be eager to sign him permanently.
Well, with Spanish publication Sport claiming that he is valued at €15m (£13m) by the newly-crowned champions of Europe, he could head back to Villa with Birmingham Live’s John Townley revealing that Asensio is said to be ‘open to returning to Villa permanently’.
Described as “magical” and a “truly impressive talent” by Juan Pericas, who was his youth team coach at Mallorca, he’d certainly be an expert replacement for the departing Bailey.
Asensio vs Bailey 2024/25 Aston Villa comparison
Statistics
Asensio
Bailey
Appearances
21
38
Minutes
1,119
2,072
Goals
8
2
Assists
1
4
Big chances missed
6
3
Big chances created
2
7
Shots
43
20
Shooting accuracy %
66.45%
44.51%
Passing accuracy %
86.35%
77.04%
Take-on success %
60.31%
46.01%
Touches per 90
44
45
Average Sofascore Rating
7.02
6.77
Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt, SofaScore and Squawka
As the table outlines, albeit from an admittedly small sample size, Asensio largely outperformed Bailey in claret and blue this season.
The Spaniard scored six more goals, despite playing around 900 fewer minutes, while registering a higher percentage of his shots on target, completed passes and successful take-ons. In short, he’s just a far more dangerous player.
Thus, if Villa are able to sell the Jamaican winger for £25m and sign Asensio for around half that, this would appear to be excellent business.
Related Aston Villa: NSWE make approach to sign £13m Serie A "no-nonsense CB"
The Villans have now asked for information about a defender, who is attracting widespread interest from the Premier League.
